FateCastle Potter
by Leechblade
Summary: A book left under his pillow one night teaches Harry a trick that will break his fate. Even a distorted wizard deserves a chance at happiness and by the ritual within the book he'll rattle every cage he sees. Seven heroes answer the call to him in turn. Hold on a minute what's this about Dudley being a wizard too? Zelretch you've got some explaining to do! M for gore and language
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a response to a challenge from Iskandar Mandoraekon (Harry Potter and The heroes of Old) initially this will be compliant but after the first summoning (and yes I'm making harry collect 'em all) the set of servants from the anime's will be largely ignored Also I don't own the Harry Potter or Fate franchises, paying me for this is just gonna get us all in trouble.**

 **Challenge requirements:**

1) _No magic_ _gender-bending._

 _2) A servant from Grail wars four or five to start off. We'll be going with War five's Lancer, Cu Chulainn._

 _3) Neglectful to abusive dursleys. I love how many fics write them as nice people but this one won't._

 _4) The summon will teach Harry their form of magic that the ministry can't detect and therefore won't punish. Done_

 _5) Harry gets an animagus form. I'm thinking platypus_

 _6) Parental Servant. Yup._

 _7) the Horcrux being dealt with without Harry dying._

 _8) The servant summoned pre-hogwarts_

 **Challenge DO NOTS:**

 _Yaoi, Supreme overlord Harry, descent from hogwarts founders, demigod status, excessive bashing, nice Dursleys._

 **Challenge Extras (allowed but not necessary)**

 _1) A different magic school. I am honestly not feeling it sorry._

 _2) Harry having a reality marble. Yes that's brilliant!_

 _3) New generation marauders with a strict anti-bullying policy. That has potential._

 _4) Harry being of Creature descent. Yes, but that will be revealed later on._

 _5) Summoning multiple servants. Love it! He'll get the whole set._

 _6) Professor Servant. I've always felt Hogwarts was lacking in physical education._

 _7) A prank war between Harry and Zelretch. No but Zel will be causing a bit of chaos._

 _8) Harem for a male harry. Yep. I'm scum. Composition to be declared._

 ** _Cleaned up a bit as of 1/5/19_**

* * *

Harry Potter was an abused child, that much is irrefutable but on account of some magic a manipulative old man had cast no one seemed willing or able to help him. In truth he desperately wished for a hero to save him, but according to the Dursleys, his _Family,_ "Freaks don't deserve help." In Magus terms the abuse he had endured was causing him to become Distorted.

However being twisted has its own advantages. The Dursley's couldn't possibly predict that their attempts to "beat the freakishness out of him" would only make him more and more "abnormal", that each time they lashed at him him power would only grow as it slowly to prepared to defend him.

Watching on in amusement at this fools errand perpetrated by a walrus and a horse, the multiverse's greatest prankster decided that he'd wreak a little havoc. Zelretch Kischur Schweinorg was an avid student of the butterfly effect. One little change or disturbance causing massive shifts in the paradigm.

A bit of morally questionable magical alteration on the boy while he slept would provide the tools necessary to tip the scales in favor of Harry James Potter. After all the boy had three Dark lords in ten pieces to deal with, and hopeless battles are no fun.

Determining what help could best be applied without his direct intervention would be paramount. Zelretch analyzed him to find four interesting things. One His element was Tactics. Two he had double Origins, Mulligan and Evolution (*1). Three in addition to seventy EX Magic Circuits, he had a magic core. Four the kid had the beginnings of a Reality Marble.

And so Zelretch set to work on the latest of his little distractions. The awakening of the boy's magic circuits was a no-brainer and little more than a wave of the hand for the Saint of the Kaleidoscope. The boy's style of Magecraft, dictated by his element would require powerful familiars made easier to select and acquire by his Origin.

Dusting off old research notes and returning the next night Zelretch removed Harry and one other person to his workshop, carefully making sure that neither of them woke wielding his various mysteries. Within Harry he implanted the summoning system used in the Holy Grail Wars of Fuyuki. Within the other he implanted a magical core taken from a Heroic Servant. Activating the circuits of Subject two revealed that they had thirty circuits, and further research would show that all circuits in their home dimension were Blue Blood type. With the dual elements of Light and Wind, and an origin of Vanquish, this person would if Harry could gain their loyalty be quite useful in the battles ahead.

Just to be on the safe side when Zelretch returned them, he left a manual on the summoning ritual under Harry's pillow. The other would need to figure out magecraft on their own, at least until a Caster was available to train them.

* * *

Harry Potter found the book the vampire had left with a cheery note "Hey kid. I've noticed how much crap you put up with from your relatives. I can't intervene too directly but this book should help you get someone who can. Don't bother showing this book to anyone else though it'll only work for you." No signature.

Not that Harry had anyway of knowing this but the book was personally typed by Zelretch, and printed that very night specifically to help him wield his origin to summon Heroic Servants and use his element to employ them in battle. Harry didn't understand why he'd need them to fight but the power to summon a hero was too tempting to ignore. Harry carefully amassed what he'd need for the ritual. That took a whole year.

The ritual circle was drawn with scavenged chalk but it would serve its purpose. To Harry the worst case scenario was that he'd lose a bit of time and maybe wake up late to take another beating tomorrow. Harry thought (correctly) that situation wouldn't get worse if the ritual failed. But if it worked he'd gain a weapon to protect himself from the cruel world around him, and someone he could trust no matter what.

Worth the risk to an eight year old who's been treated like a slave and a punching bag. Screwing his courage to the sticking place Harry James Potter stretched his hand forward to the border of the circle and began the chant that would break through fate. As with most magecraft this aria had been customized for the situation and the caster.

"Fill and shatter five times. By blood of steel and silver. By roots of stone and a promise. Let Arland Evans be the Ancestor. Break the wall between strength and weakness. Seal the power of the foolish. By the four Grand Thresholds, emerge from the Throne and follow the winding road to the battlefield. I offer this contract, my power shall remake your body and your power shall remake my destiny. Let neither of us fear Evil nor Good! If my words resonate with your heart then step forward from the binding circle O Guardian of the Scales!"

It worked. A tall man with blue hair in a wolf-tail and red eyes appeared in the circle. His outfit consisted of a blue tunic with black and grey trousers(*2). He looked around as if he was expecting someone other than a seven year old boy to be present "Oh dear I've been summoned by a five year old boy and there isn't even a Grail War"

Harry corrected him "I'm seven actually. My name's Harry Potter." The Heroic Servant he had just called forth froze like he'd just been hit by a truck and his crimson eyes rapidly widened. "What do you mean Grail War anyway? The book just said I should do the ritual if I wanted a hero to help me."

The man recovered his composure and said "It is irrelevant, I am Heroic Spirit Cu Chulainn, though in public I believe referring to me as Mister Seth(*3) Lancer would be wise." Lancer looked over Harry "That's some impressive magical power you have there, but it's being restrained by something … Oh my."

"What's wrong?" the boy asked.

"Someone implanted a fragment of his soul in your body, It's what's keeping so much your power restrained but I can't identify precisely how or why it was put there." Lancer said confused, "By the Root! I didn't even realize that doing that to a soul was possible. Unless ... oh dear, I've been dragged across dimensions. I guess that explains your unusual powers, of course the rules would be different in another plane of existence."

"Can you remove the soul fragment, or at the very least find out who put it there?" Harry asked. He understood that power was important, but he also knew that knowledge was a form of power as well. Even knowing who put the fragment there and why would be a huge help.

"Of course young master just one moment." Lancer sort of reached into Harry's scar and yanked out something that looked like a ball of green light "This is going to taste awful..." He groaned before eating said ball of green light.

Harry looked on in wonder as Lancer recovered from that bit of unpleasantness "That felt pretty weird for me as well. So were you only able to destroy the fragment, or have you learned anything?" He inquired of his new familiar.

Lancer grimaced as though he had eaten something which tasted unpleasant which was actually in the strictest sense, the truth "The the soul fragment was implanted by a man calling himself Voldemort. I wasn't able to pick up much but he put it there when he tried to kill you, right after killing your parents."

"Huh. Uncle Vernon said that they died in a car crash. Guess that was codswallop." Harry was not at all surprised that Vernon had lied to him. After all the human walrus had demonstrated an immense capacity to lie to himself. Harry checked the back of his hand and noticed his command seals "These marks mean I can give you orders right?" Lancer nodded a confirmation, and Harry used one of them "You are hereby ordered to act as though you were my father!"

This was a highly unusual way of using a command seal. Of course Zelretch had modified how they would work in his case so that over the period of twenty-five days, the seal would regenerate. Furthermore each servant he summoned would have a set of three Seals linked to them and taking shape according to the class they were bound to. For example on Harry's left hand a glaive, a pike and a bardiche would forever more bind him to his first servant, the hound of Ulster.

* * *

The Servant's anger continuously mounted as he learned more of Harry's rather unpleasant life. The boy had been systematically beaten and malnourished, and he thought it was legally acceptable. Considering the state of the kid's outfit the Dursleys had almost _certainly_ been misusing his Guardian's Allowance. (knowledge from the summoning system was how he knew about that)

Harry didn't want them harmed too badly so Lancer restrained himself. Infiltrating Harry's primary school as a teacher was surprisingly easy as the previous history teacher had vanished after promising to help Harry. Either he was a total flake or something significantly more sinister was at work.

Lancer investigated this. Somewhat annoyingly every time someone tried to take a look at the Dursleys it had always come up "Vernon Dursley claims that Harry Potter is a delinquent, no evidence exists to suggest this, nor is there any evidence of mistreatment." Yup definitely something sinister at work. It took a month but the Servant identified the cause of this refusal to acknowledge the fact that Harry was abused.

There was a bounded field around Number Four Privet Drive. Immensely complex and quite cleverly geared towards making sure that no one took him out of there. Any mundane who looked at the place would think all was well and believe whatever lies the Dursley's told about the boy. Any magical, aside from Harry and a few others, who looked at the place would not even notice it was there. Whoever placed that ward there was clearly a master of the arcane, and even if he'd kill them after, warranted some serious magical theory discussion.

Horrendous results aside, the ward was a work of art, apparently based off the willing sacrifice of a human life, someone who cared deeply for Harry. Lancer couldn't possibly believe that person would tolerate Harry being treated like some sort of slave!

Seth Lancer rapidly made a name for himself as a good natured teacher who despite, his unorthodox hairstyle was quite effective at making history fun without losing the respect of the students. His housing was solved by renting a room with Arabella Figg, the Cat Lady on Privet Drive. Keeping someone young around is quite advantageous for an old timer.

Cheap housing and few other concerns allowed him to save up money for Harry's future. It also allowed him to quietly supplement Harry's diet. Protein bars, nutrient shakes, that sort of thing. Eventually Arabella asked him about his interest in the boy. Lancer explained what he knew about the abuse. Then he said that he wanted to be dependable, and that Harry Potter looked like he needed someone to depend on.

Harry frequently said he'd been assigned detention with Mister Lancer, much to the confusion of the other students, this was a smoke screen to mask the fact that he had been training the kid in combat and magecraft. This under the table arrangement did raise some eyebrows but the annoying thing about rocking a boat is that first someone would need to care about it, then they would have to dare to do something.

In time Lancer had found a way to shut the Dursley's up about Harry's supposed delinquency once and for all. Ironically magic had nothing to do with it, just a camcorder and some well timed footage. The Dursley's would have enough rope to hang themselves.

It was the April before Harry turned eleven that this occurred at last. Vernon had given him a beat down for once again outshining Dudley in their grades and now it was apparently Dudley's turn. And he brought the whole gang to make the "lesson stick".

"Do you have the camera, Lancer?" Harry asked over their Telepathic link. One of the more convenient parts of the bond.

"This time I'll force these animals to face the consequences of their actions without fail!" Lancer said surprising himself with how protective of his young Master he was being, perhaps it was the Command seal fueled order making him feel that way. Standing just out of sight in his exceptionally ordinary looking business suit. He laid in wait for the fool who was far too please with his own folly.

As predicted Dudley Dursley tried to hit Harry, and the results of Lancer's training the boy showed clearly as each strike was dodged despite the sheer number of his attackers. Eventually though the (admittedly now mitigated) malnourishment caught up him and he began to receive the worst beating of his life. Lancer took his cue, and emerged from the shadows as though he belonged to the Assassin Class.

"Mister Dursley I'll be seeing you in my office tonight, for a _mandatory_ parent teacher conference. I'll see you expelled if you or your parents are not in attendance. Mister Potter I'd advise you to remain on campus until afterwards as I'd imagine things will get somewhat unpleasant due to your present living arrangements." He turned to the rest of Dudley's play gang "The rest of you will have detention tomorrow afternoon. You seem to think it's okay to hit him so I'll be letting him hit you." Lancer dropped casually.

Dudley attempted to brush it off when he brought his parents to deal with the punishment given by the stern teacher who seemed to be out to get him. When they sat down in his office they were offended by the lack of offered refreshments. This was calculated as Harry was munching on a power-bar with a large glass of milk at the time.

"I'm certain that my Dudley didn't do anything wrong." Vernon said slickly "It's our nephew you need to watch out for. I've tried reigning him as much as I can but I'm afraid the boy is a hopeless case." To Vernon's alarm Lancer started to chuckle.

"You and I both know that was load of tosh, Vernon." Lancer was in full teacher mode now. "In the year or so I have known him Harry James Potter has been an exemplary student and a decent if socially awkward human being. Besides in this case it isn't purely Dudley's word against Harry's."

Lancer out the camcorder and showing the Dursley's the incident "Little freak doing his freaky things again! You'll be punished for this. Cheating on your school work, detention too often to do your chores and now dodging all over the place like some pansy freak! You've crossed the line!" Vernon roared.

Harry just took a swig from his glass of milk and Lancer laughed. "Actually just about anyone could learn the techniques Harry used, if they applied themselves. Nothing more than some physical exercises. Pretty much the same can be said for how he's left your son in the dust academically. Harry does the work, Dudley doesn't."

Vernon was slowly turning purple at Lancer's attack on his excuses. "As for the detentions, well that's just what I told him to say. He hasn't gotten a detention in his life because he's a good kid. The reason he's been saying he has detentions is so I can train him without you trying to trample him down like the scum you are." Lancer explained

"HE'S CAST A SPELL ON YOU!" Vernon roared. The portly man regretted saying this immediately afterwards as Lancer was now laughing like he had never laughed before. When the Heroic Spirit finally recovered he sported a bloodthirsty grin.

"So you admit to knowing about magic?" Vernon tried to verbally backspace but it was too late. "That makes this considerably easier." Lancer dropped all pretense, summoned his weapon, it's blood red shaft and blade shining, and equipped his armor. "I am a hero called from ancient legends by the unique properties of Harry Potter's magic and an unwavering cry for help! I'm super-humanly fast and strong on a bad day, and I'm not exactly a klutz either!"

Vernon was shocked into silence "There is nothing you can do to protect yourself from me. There is nothing you can do to keep me from learning about the continuation of this _misbehaviour_ either. Since my existence is fueled by Harry's magical power no amount of wards on your home will _ever_ be able to keep me out as long as you try to keep _him_ in. So whatever idiot left him with you can't protect you either."

That was the end of the status quo.

Lancer's declarations had left the Dursleys numb. In the months afterward Each of them had their own question burning within their soul. Vernon was beginning to wonder if antagonizing the boy had been smart. Petunia was wondering how powerful a wizard her nephew must be to reach across time for help and had correctly concluded that her attempts to beat him down had only made him rise ever higher.

As for young Dudley? He was, much to his own shock, questioning his parents' claims to normalcy. For once in his life he was looking at a distorted situation in a way that made him ask why it got like that. It was the first step down a path that many of his alternates wouldn't begin to consider until later in life.

Dudley's grades shot up and his weight began to go down. While Vernon was rather annoyed that his son was slimming down as he took great pride in his own massive frame, an uneasy peace had been attained at Number Four Privet Drive, a peace which would be shattered when a vampire's other gift reared its head. On July twenty-fourth of that year in addition to what was already expected by Petunia another letter arrived addressed to "Mister D. Dursley of the medium sized bedroom, Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey"

Well that can't possibly end well...

* * *

 **And that is chapter one of this other crossover. To preemptively answer a few questions, yes I've read the Lupine Horror take on a HP-Nasuverse cross, as well as Neolyph's and a few others. Yes Dudley will also learn Nasuverse magecraft. In point of fact he'll be considerably more of a combat mage than Harry is.**

 **As for the other servants Harry will summon no there isn't a poll and I alone will choose the remaining ones. for those curious however there will be clues leading up to each summoning as between Harry's later studies and the careful acquisition of catalysts will allow rather precise selection in-universe. On a meta level it will primarily be from the Fate Grand Order list**

 **Just to keep track each Bottom AN will have one of these between the main Message and any number annotations.**

 **Servants;**

 **Saber- Not Summoned**

 **Archer- Not Summoned**

 **Lancer- Summoned, cover identity of Seth Lancer established, True Name Cuchulain.**

 **Rider- Not Summoned**

 **Caster- Not Summoned**

 **Assassin- Not Summoned**

 **Berserker- Not Summoned**

 **Numbered annotations:**

 **1\. The Evolution part is to excuse the changes they go through from their canon states, the Mulligan (like a do-over) covers how summoning them is more easily accomplished and why most of them have wishes that just having a body again will give them the power to attain.**

 **2\. The "Prototype outfit" or my best description of it anyways. For my sanity assume his normal outfit is first ascension minus the metal** **but in a fight he's in his fourth ascension full armor. If it's different I'll say so.**

 **3\. Short for "Setanta" the name given to him before events led to him being called** **Cuchulain.** **  
**


	2. Zelretch's other gift

**I'd like to thank the first reviewer for his opinions and suggestions. The reason I went with Cuchulain was, Medea could break contracts, Bluebeard was a psycho. Cuchulain however was a decent sort whose only real wish was to be more reliable. Not unlike another Irish Lancer.**

 **There were some suggestions as to the remaining two however, I can't use them. Assassin Jack the Ripper gives me the willies and her presence around Harry would be ...** ** _problematic_** **. Last thing Harry needs is a Loli version of Bellatrix Lestrange hanging around and calling him "Daddy". As for Umbitch, don't worry that's one witch who is literally gonna burn.**

 **Chiron poses his own set of difficulties however. I stated in the first chapter's sign off that Harry's Origin would attract Servant's who's wishes can be achieved if only they had a body with which to make it happen. His wish while** ** _motivated_** **by feelings not unlike Harry's own, is beyond anything short of a miracle. Chiron would be** ** _perfect_** **for Harry to summon as far as compatibility went, but this version of Harry** **can't give him what he wants** **. Due to the way this variant of the Servant summoning works, Chiron would know that and refuse the call.**

 **However your guess about his distortion- and therefore his Reality Marble- isn't correct. I'm choosing to treat a Reality Marble as something akin to the the Palaces from Persona 5, a strange combination of Mage-craft and Wizardry that will ultimately _distort the distortion_ \- if that makes any sense.**

 **Cuchulain's powers as a sage will be a big help later on. Harry will be getting an actual dog as well though a reader might notice that his Canon counterpart has a rather _turbulent_ relationship with canines.**

 **Now another reviewer mentioned that I might be having all six remaining slots filled by females. Nope, however Harry's Harem will end with six members.**

 **Regarding Harry being overpowered with his seventy EX Circuits? He might overpowered but he's under-gunned. A lot of energy without a meaningful way to _unleash_ it. Also he's not just supporting seven Servants, he's doing all the work to _summon_ them. Lancer's summoning _almost_ killed him. He just didn't notice because he was neither properly trained as a Magus nor in very good condition to start with.**

 **And just to clear this up; Artoria won't be summoned or present. Artoria Lily will be Class Card however.**

* * *

Harry had gone out to get the post, same as usual, only he could breathe easy now. Lancer's threats had proved effective, Vernon Dursley hadn't spoken so much as a word against him since they were issued.

The fat pig would never retract his insistence that Harry Potter was "a no good delinquent who would get nowhere in life just like his worthless drunkard father" but at least now Vernon wasn't preaching to all and sundry that Harry was scum who would die horribly. For a moment, as he brought the mail in, Harry hoped that one day he and Vernon could get along without a spear pointed at the place where Vernon's heart should be.

A child's mind is a wondrous thing to hope for what is impossible, and many of Vernon's alternates had it within their hearts if the slightest things had been just a little different. But one of the letters shocked Vernon, finally breaking what little sanity the man had left.

"BOY!" Vernon roared out. Harry looked at the two letters Vernon was pointing at. both were carefully written in a flowing script that used green ink. 'Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' was written on both of them. Harry was numbed from this. Dudley was a magic user too?

"Huh, I guess I'm stuck with him for longer than I thought." Harry said "It's annoying that Dudley can use magic too, but the fact that there's a school for this stuff makes the situation much easier." Harry went to collect and read his letter.

Vernon being the arcana-phobic pig he was grabbed Harry's arm as the boy and spoke "Listen you ingrateful freak, I am not paying for some old coot to teach you magic tricks! You're going to Stonewall high, Dudley's going to Smeltings and you'll both be glad you do. I will not tolerate that-" Vernon was cut off in his rant.

"Dad, you've had this chat with Harry before. It didn't end well then, it won't now." Dudley interjected, for the first time defying his father outright. Turning to his cousin "The staff at Smeltings were not happy all about seeing another Dursley, even if my Dad is pals with the new director. It's a bit much to ask but would you let me come with you to-" checking the letter "Hogwarts?" The blonde boy asked.

Petunia and Vernon Dursley, rarely if, ever agreed with their nephew on anything. Ironically this particular instance was one if not the only such instance. All three of them were shocked. They weren't the only ones surprised by this, Lancer could see it through the bond and had his jaw on the floor, and in another reality a certain mischievous vampire began to howl in laughter scaring the collective pants off of an entire school of Magi.

This wasn't exactly the sudden change of heart it appeared to be to the casual observer. Dudley had been studying and learning the truths of the world around him. Petunia made to dissuade Dudley "Diddykins you don't need any of that freakish stuff! You can be normal like us." she said "Leave the worthless freak to die like his worthless parents!"

Dudley retorted "So I suppose it's normal to lock children in cupboards for things they don't know? To hate someone for something they can't control? Another thing is, I've been reading a lot lately. Law books mostly. Came across a few odd phrases that the teachers were helpful enough to explain. Would you like to know what I've learned?"

It wasn't really a question and Dudley didn't bother waiting on a response, his parents had done something _ridiculously_ stupid even when you forgot that Harry was a wizard "Guardian's Allowance; money from the government for care of a child by non-parent caretakers. Can't imagine you aren't claiming that for Harry, using that for anything _but_ his care is a crime though. Child abuse; causing undue harm, physical or otherwise, to a child in your care. You do realize if you'd been caught you'd both be in prison and I'd be in an orphanage right?" Dudley finally asked eyes burning with rage.

Petunia snapped. She ran to get the gun and fired, forgetting her lousy aim and the fact that she was using buckshot.

Harry moved. Reinforcing his legs to get Dudley out of the way. It should have been hopeless though. Or at least it would have been hopeless had it not been for two things; One being that Harry was not only a Magus but a Wizard. Two being that Harry wasn't the only wizard in the room.

Accidental magic occurred, not really accidental but it didn't have a wand or incantation guiding it. For Harry he exerted a burst of force, shoving Dudley out of the way of the shotgun blast. For Dudley however his Magical core (implanted by, Zelretch, though not that he knew about that) flooded his magic circuits with prana, awakening them.

The person Harry had just saved was already barely recognizable as Dudley Dursley as things were. A few sharp shocks that young tend to do big things to your perception of reality. Being saved by someone you had spent your whole life treating like dirt? Coupled with the fact that the reason you were taught to hate him applying to you as well?

The Dudley Dursley that most of his alternates would be until a certain dementor attack was now gone completely, and replaced with a much better person than many grown men could boast of being. It was terrible thing for him to decide to grow up so fast but it was something the boy who had just saved him would be thankful for in the struggles to come.

Lancer was shocked, outraged and above all, terrified of losing his master, who was also like a son to him. Reaching the scene he shoved Petunia with enough force to be fatal. Vernon was outraged and as he struggled to retrieve the gun and kill the two freaks that had corrupted his only child years of overeating finally caught up to him. He suffered from a stroke, never felt a thing.

And just like that Vernon and Petunia Dursley were dead. The police were called, the scene was investigated. The whole situation was carefully picked through with a fine toothed comb and at long last the truth of the nightmare Harry Potter had spent ten long years in was laid bare to the mundane world. Those among the neighborhood who had once dismissed Harry as a worthless criminal in the making were forced to acknowledge that not only was Harry not some budding psycho, he was a stronger person than they could ever hope to become.

Ordinarily the blood wards would prevent the truth from coming out at all, much less in such a spectacular fashion, as they were still active through Dudley. But as occurs all too often with Harry's life nothing was ordinary about the situation. Dudley wanted the truth to get out. For all the sheep who'd swallowed Vernon's lies without trying to find out for themselves to understand that, as far as Harry Potter was concerned, they'd been hoodwinked.

The fallout from this unfortunate incident would continue for some time. At first reporters were swarming the area until "Seth" Lancer gave a brief statement to make them back off. This was actually the most pleasant bit of the issue.

"What happened here was unforgivable. I knew those two would have crossed the line eventually so I had been present in an effort to convince them to sign over Harry's guardianship. I'm not entirely certain what set him and Petunia off, but Harry is still in the hospital and I don't regret what I did to protect him. I didn't plan to kill Petunia but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it either."

The second bit of the fallout was the fact that the neighborhood, courts and cops included, were in a full blown witch hunt for anything that even looked like child abuse. They were ashamed that they had let such things occur in their town and they were not about to slip up again. The next thirty years would see down ticks in the use of the names Vernon and Petunia, in addition to the areas around London becoming safe havens for abuse victims.

Unfortunately as everyone knew far too well, it was too little too late for Harry James Potter. Dudley would always remember the day Harry was discharged from the hospital. When the doctor rolled him out in a wheelchair, Dudley was of course hopeful "So Doctor Shepherd, how long until he can walk again?"

The grim faced doctor frowned and began his explanation "The buckshot damaged his spinal column, we did our best to clean it up but the nerves are still shut down for some reason. Unless we find a way to turn them back on he will most likely be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. I'm sorry."

They left the hospital, with Harry's chair being pushed by Lancer at first. He tried to object to Dudley pushing the chair but Harry waved him off "Don't worry about it Lancer. Dudley is used to pushing me around." he joked hoping to take his cousin's mind off of things.

It worked to an extent. Dudley managed the barest traces of a smile and said "Yeah but now it'll be to help you. I'm ashamed to say they were my parents, but now at least their arcanaphobia won't be hurting anyone else." Lancer had been given permission to move into the house as it now technically belonged to Dudley, whom he had been given provisional guardianship of after Dudley had made it clear to the police that he _didn't_ resent Lancer for protecting Harry.

What had once been the guest room- the only bedroom on the ground floor- had been converted to Harry's new room, however in order to help the boy get around a large and powerfully built female Anatolian Shepherd named Hope was given to him as a service animal. Harry was quite proud of his strong grip and with the brace that she wore that grip would keep him mobile.

Lancer eventually sent a reply to the Hogwarts letters.

 _To whom it may concern_

 _There are a few issues concerning Harry's attending your school, furthermore on account of certain events that have occurred since receiving the acceptance letters, Dudley won't abandon him no matter what. I would like to speak to a person of authority regarding these issues as they may necessitate that exceptions to certain rules be made or outright changing said rules. This is not an attempt by Harry or Dudley to get special treatment beyond what is necessary for them to function. As school is presently out for the summer holidays I'm sure you can spare an afternoon as I'm a teacher myself._

 _Sincerely, Lancer._

When Minerva Mcgonagall saw this letter she was confused for a number of reasons, having not paid attention to the muggle news. Her initial impression of the muggles that old goat Albus had left Harry with was that they were the worst sort. Dudley Dursley's name showing up on an acceptance letter was enough of a shock. The idea that Dudley was so loyal to Harry? Pleasantly surprising but patently absurd at the same time. And who precisely was this Lancer character? More disturbing was the statement that they might need to bend rules for Harry Potter to attend Hogwarts.

She sent a reply by muggle post so as to keep this "Lancer" character calm- after all she had no idea if he was muggle, magical, or creature- and cleared her schedule for August Eighth. Lancer was clearly someone who both the boys trusted, if not their new guardian. But still what happened to Vernon and Petunia?

* * *

August eighth came and Harry James Potter would have been pacing if he could walk. Dudley wasn't much better. Lancer had to train with him in the yard just to calm the kid's nerves. Nothing like a good sparring match to fix anxiety problems. Needless to say Lancer thrashed him without breaking a sweat but after about two about hours of this the good Professor finally arrived.

"Alright that's enough for today. Keep this up and you'll be one of the best swordsman in the world by the time you're eighteen." Lancer spoke. He dropped the staff he'd been using against the bokken he'd gotten for Dudley. It was odd for a spear-man to be training a swordsman but Dudley was better built for the sword. "Tomorrow we'll figure out what your element and origin are so I can start teaching you magecraft."

Then the heroic spirit went to answer the door. When he opened it an older woman in some sort of robes was there. Though thankfully she had avoided the hat that day. The woman spoke "I am Minerva Mcgonagall I teach at a school called Hogwarts. I don't have the wrong house do I?"

"Come on in professor. Pardon Dudley's condition, we just got through sparring and he's a tad hot-blooded for his age." Lancer guided her into the Living room and sat her down in what had once been Vernon's easy chair. "I'm sorry to drag you out here so shortly before the start of term but there are issues that need to be sorted out on the Magical and Mundane sides of the law. First and foremost; That isn't a normal chair Harry's sitting in, he is paralyzed from the waist down."

This elicited a gasp from the Professor "How did that happen Mister Lancer?" she glared accusingly "And come to think of it what happened to Vernon and Petunia? I don't think they'd take kindly to you taking over their house."

Dudley glared at the woman "With any luck? Those two are burning in the deepest pits of hell for what they did to Harry." Minerva was disturbed by the boy's hateful words about his parents "For ten long years we treated him like garbage."

Minerva stated "I knew leaving him here was a bad idea but Albus seemed to think blood would conquer all. How does Lancer fit into this?"

Dudley started smiling and gave the cover story Harry had decided upon "Right before Harry's eighth birthday, Lancer showed up and saw right through whatever was making people believe Vernon's drivel about Harry being scum. He'd been trying to get Harry out of here for a while, and quietly slipping him some extra food where he could. He was finally about to get them to sign custody of Harry over to him when my letter arrived-" Dudley's voice cracked at this point as he still remembered his parents who had spoiled him rotten.

Seeing the blonde boy was unable to finish the tale Lancer supplied the end. "Dudley was trying to convince them to sign over Harry. When they saw that Dudley was a wizard as well they accused Harry of killing the real Dudley. Petunia got out the gun and tried to kill Harry. This did not sit well with me, so I dealt with her. As for Vernon he stroked out while trying to kill us all."

"This still doesn't explain why Harry Potter is in a wheelchair." Minerva stated.

It was Dudley's turn to speak "Harry took some buckshot to waist. It shut down the nerves that let him move his legs." Dudley turned to Harry "Of course if he'd done the smart thing and let me get killed he wouldn't have gotten hit." Dudley's words surprised the Professor more then Lancer's. Harry had given up his legs to save someone.

"You are not them." was what Harry said in response "We're still young, even if we take a fall we still have time to try again and become something new." So kind so wise. "Besides who says I don't plan on pranking you witless down the line?" Harry said jovially, shattering Mcgonagall's first impression of the boy.

Dudley was able to laugh at that "I'm looking forward to it then."

"This still doesn't explain which rules you need exceptions for." Minerva stated

Lancer laid the situation out plainly "Simply put I would like assurances that Harry and Dudley will be allowed to share a dorm room until we find a way to fix Harry's legs. If that isn't an option, an exception needs to be made for Harry's Mobility Assistance Dog."

Said MAD trotted into the room at that and Harry piped up "Hope here wears that weird harness so I can grab it and she can pull my chair. We're working on an enchanted armor that should allow me to walk too, but until then this Anatolian shepherd goes where I go." Harry ruffled her fur cautiously, remembering his prior experiences with canines. "Don't worry she has her shots and everything." he said, more trying to convince himself that she was safe than anything.

These were surprisingly tame conditions so Minerva calmly stated "It shouldn't be too difficult to convince Dumbledore that you have special needs. As for the Dormitory arrangements, well if Dudley is as loyal as he seems to be it won't be an issue." Refusing to clarify about that "Mister Lancer you wouldn't happen to be a wizard yourself would you?"

"I'm an expert with runes but my skill in melee is much better. However if what you're asking is if I'm a human Magical then I'm afraid the answer is no. As to what precisely I am, well I'd rather keep my cards close to my chest on that matter. However I can assure that I will not allow any harm to come to Harry" Lancer delivered with a serious frown. "Why ask? Is Hogwarts looking for a new teacher or something?"

"Got it in one. The muggle government's been on our ministry's case about the lack of physical exercise our students get and Albus has finally caved to them." the Scottish woman admitted. "The pay rate is comparable to a similar muggle position and comes with room and board, in addition you'll be close to your charges."

Lancer got a sadistic grin on his face "Then I'd guess I should go buy a whistle. There are just two issues with regards to the muggle world we still need to clear up but if you could tell us where to go shopping we'll be able to handle things from here."

"There's a pub on Charing Cross called the Leaky Cauldron. You can get where you need to go from there." Professor Mcgonagall stated "Ask the Barman to let you into Diagon Alley and that should be the end of that." realizing she had forgotten something, she reached into her pocket and pulled a golden key "Oh and if you need additional funds take this to Gringotts and ask for the Potter Vault."

She handed the key to Lancer, who passed it to Harry. Harry then slipped it onto a cord he wore around his neck. With the shopping issue resolved Harry and Dudley were halfway towards a future filled with hope and danger alike...

* * *

 **For anyone confused about how smart Dudley is; He isn't. In this case he's parroting either the book or the teacher who explained the term he brought up. In addition, as to why he did this well I mentioned that in chapter one; Lancer's threat made him decide to step back and look** **at what was going on in his home, how messed up the situation really was.**

 **In the next chapter we've got Marge's reaction to Lancer and why she isn't getting custody of Dudley. Diagon alley as well, where Harry's Creature blood shows and makes things a _little_ complicated. It'll also mess with his Animagus form to an extent. This is deliberate.**

 **Here's some hints as to the rest of Harry's Servants.**

 **Two others from anime will be joining. A third heeds the call of a lost comrade. The fourth was real and their class _might_ shock you. The fifth a conflicted blade and the sixth a searing sword.**

 **Some slight tweaks to grammar, spelling and keeping things believable as of 1/9/19.**

 **NOTICE: the hints have changed because two of the servants have changed from the original plan.**


	3. Inherited truths

**Let's get this out of the way: There is a magical fix for Harry's legs but that won't be a thing until later. Remus's role will be much bigger in this as well for a number of reasons. As an O.G. Marauder and soon to be an employee of Harry's he'll be in** ** _frequent_** **contact with Harry and Co even when he's minding Privet Drive (which like harry's residence there will only last until the end of first year, not enough space for those under Harry's aegis after all) He's also tied into what Zelretch is up to at the end of this chapter but how precisely that is I'm not saying.**

 **Still don't own either franchise though.**

* * *

Two days later, as Lancer was preparing his young charges to go to Diagon Alley, a most unwelcome presence dropped by Number Four Privet Drive. Marjorie Dursley had come to claim custody of Dudley. The overweight and highly unpleasant dog breeder was shocked to get the notification that her brother and his wife were dead and as a result hadn't paid attention to the circumstances behind her brother's death despite the fact that it was all over the news.

End result? She showed up at Number Four Privet drive convinced that Dudley was still Vernon's little blonde mini-me. She was certain that Lancer had lied to the police about what happened and was planning lord-knows-what with her darling nephew. Also she believed that as Dudley's last remaining blood relative she was automatically entitled to custody of the two boys and ownership of the house.

Normally these things would be correct. However as she plotted Harry's untimely demise by overwork or perhaps drowning she was ignorant of a few things that she'd have known if she'd just bothered to call NSPCC.

First and foremost that it was, by this point well known that Petunia had been killed as she was trying to murder someone, and that Vernon had stroked out. Secondly Lancer had every right to custody of the two because not only had Dudley and Harry agreed to it, it was a known fact that Lancer, unlike the deceased Dursleys really did treat them both like his own children. With a firm but gentle hand. Thirdly the way Dudley reacted when they suggested either of them go to Marge was more than enough to convince the authorities that letting Marge Dursley anywhere near the two boys was a bad idea.

"Where's my darling neffy-poo? Auntie Marge is here to get you away from that psychotic murderer don't you worry!" She exclaimed completely ignorant of the truth.

Dudley looked at her like she had just said the sky was green. "What are you talking about?" Ignorant of her ignorance "Petunia's already dead, and good riddance to bad trash I say." his words shocked her to the core (Not an easy task considering her massive frame).

"I'm talking about that no good dirty rotten nephew of Petunia's, Harry Potter and that blue haired faerie he tricked into helping him get rid of my sainted brother!" Marge exclaimed either blind to what a monster her brother really was. "Come on Dudders I'll raise you to be just your Dad. He'll be so proud!" she said pleadingly

This was exactly the wrong thing to say. Dudley made that abundantly clear to Marge. With his next words he destroyed her illusions "Those two monsters had committed numerous crimes. When Petunia found out that I had the same thing she hated Aunt Lily for she blamed Harry for it, despite that being impossible and tried to kill him."

"But"-

"I didn't say I was finished Marge. Despite what I've done to him, Harry thought about my well being first and tried to get me out of the line of fire. He'll never walk again because he did that you know. So don't you _dare_ insult him to my face!." Dudley looked at Lancer "Hey coach. Mind showing this woman the door?" he asked the hero of the house.

"Not in the slightest." The blue haired Servant replied. The residents of Privet Drive were then treated to the amusing though physically improbable sight of Marjorie Dursley being literally thrown out of the house that had once belonged to her brother. She even bounced once. "And stay out!" Howled the Hound of Ulster.

The quartet (Lancer, Harry, Dudley, and Hope) loaded into the car (1*) that Lancer had rented and set out for Charing Cross. Parking in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Lancer set up Harry's wheelchair and they proceeded into the rustic looking pub. More than a few odd looks were sent their way, as they made their way through "Oi Barman! My charges and I need into the Alley."

"Lost your wand eh?" Asked the Barman "And in case you were wondering my name is Tom Abbott." (2*) "Everyone calls me Tom though." The elderly gentleman explained. Though for someone who probably a grandfather he was quite spritely.

"I use a spear as my focus. Not as easy to conceal, but on the off chance that you get cornered by a beastie you don't remember the spell to deal with, you can just stab it. Not many creatures like being poked." Lancer replied eliciting a round of uproarious laughter laughter from the pub's patrons.

"True enough good sir." Tom Abbott replied, he guided the odd group to a side exit of the pub where the they were immediately faced with a brick wall of all things. "Now remember this please." Tom pulled out a wand pointed, at a brick that was sticking out. "Three up." tapping each of the bricks with the wand "and two across." As the brick wall slowly disappeared "Have a nice day. Maybe when you're done with your business in the alley you'll take a meal here at the Cauldron?"

"That sounds good to me." Lancer said "Dudley and Harry might have other ideas though." he commented, implying to the boys that it was their decision. The command seals would have forced the issue if Harry wanted them too but even his variant on them wasn't worth wasting on one meal.

"If Dudley's okay with it." Harry commented. Dudley just nodded. Most of their alternates wouldn't have cared for each other's opinions at this point, but this Dudley was loyal to Harry, and even the master of the Kaleidoscope would be hard pressed to find a Harry Potter that didn't understand the value of loyalty, especially when it's coming from a person you had previously despised.

They took a look around Flourish and Bott's, only to discover that they needed to convert currency before buying anything. So it was off to Gringotts. Lancer decided to greet them in Gobbledygook (*3) "Honored Goblins, my bond-sons and I require your aid in our endeavors" he said. When this made every goblin in the room look at him funny he said, in english this time "If I said something wrong I apologize."

The Goblin who seemed to be in charge gave a toothy smile and said "Nothing wrong, of course. Just rare that a non-goblin cares enough to greet us in our language. Let alone get the terms for adopted children right in it. What can Gringotts do for you today?"

Lancer nodded to Harry, a gesture of deference that he took as normal but the Goblins were somewhat surprised by. More surprising were the wheelchair bound boy's words "For starters, I need muggle currency converted to the wizarding version, enough for two students. Secondly I need a full accounting of whatever vaults at my disposal. Finally considering who had my key before it got to me, I'll be needing the locks changed and a new key issued. No one, not even Merlin himself gets access to my money without my permission."

"Key Please." Spoke the goblin nearest to them. Harry handed it over "Sorry but I need some blood to confirm your identity got be certain you're who you say you are." a quick dagger-prick later and the Goblin gasped "Well Lord Potter-Black, this doesn't make sense, but it's on the stone so it must be true. You're listed as heir to House Potter _and_ House Black, but by blood at least, one Draco Malfoy ought to have the claim on the second one."

Lancer looked over the numbers and mused "Hmm I guess whoever was in charge of House Black before preferred Harry as an heir over this Draco character, who wouldn't with a surname that means 'Bad Faith'. That is a mystery for another day though, I don't see anything about payments from those damned books I saw using Harry's name and likeness. That's gonna cost them. If you'd be so kind as to put us in contact with a wizarding barrister, I intend to take the buggers to court for doing that without proper authorization or compensation."

"Any preferences as to their blood status, case record, or personality?" The Goblin asked quietly.

"Hmm, a first generation magical would be best, That way they won't care about stepping on the aristocracy's toes, and won't hesitate to call Harry out if he's threatening to cross a line." Lancer replied, after all his Master was a gentle soul and it wouldn't do to let him grow arrogant in his power "I'll discuss their fees with them directly. One more thing- I want half the liquid assets invested, an even split between Muggle and Wizarding businesses." When Harry nodded affirmation the goblins set to work.

"Gringotts and Goblin Nation will of course carry these instructions out, for reasonable fees of course. As for the barrister, one Edward Tonks would fit the bill perfectly, I'll send a letter to him as a courtesy in return for your courtesy to us. When would you like to meet him?" the goblin who had administered the inheritance test finally replied.

"The twenty-seventh. We have business on the muggle side to settle and something tells me that another complication is going to crop up while we're here." (4*) Lancer spoke. "I've got bloody annoying levels of bad luck and if something irritating were to happen a street full of magic is perfect for it."

Their business at Gringotts completed they set about making the necessary purchases with a few slight modifications "No. That recipe for pewter has lead in it, we're going with copper ones" with the cauldrons "having some extra books about combat spells on hand might be beneficial" with the book list "No we do not want a normal tie on them, we'll get some clip-ons from a muggle mall" at Madam Malkin's and finally "Some extra safety measures, don't want a potions accident happening before you get to potions," at the luggage shop. when they decided to get multiple compartment trunks with carefully constructed potion racks.

Over protective on Lancer's part? Maybe, but this was self preservation as well, after all, if Harry were to perish he'd likely be doomed as well. Dudley could support a Servant as well mind you, with his own core and circuits but emotions had as much of an effect on Od production as the circuits themselves.

A quick pass by the Magical Menagerie learned that a man named Rubeus Hagrid had reserved a beautiful snowy owl for Harry. On paper at least she'd be Dudley's owl to keep a certain old goat happy but anyone who bothered to pay attention knew where Dudley's loyalties lie.

At long last the time came for wands to be selected, on a lark Lancer decided to get one for himself as well, if only to blend in a bit better. When they walked (or in Harry's case, rolled) in they were greeted by a rather eccentric looking old man with crazy eyes and a shock of even crazier white hair, at least this one didn't have a beard.

"Mister Potter, I was wondering when I'd see you in here. Also, If I'm not mistaken another muggleborn from the Evans line. What's your name young man?" He asked the other boy.

"Dudley Dursley." He managed to get out. "If you don't mind I'll go first, I'll probably end up with some trash wand anyway." Dudley's new habit of self-deprecation was seriously starting to get on Harry 's nerves.

Garrick Ollivander had never seen such an unconfident boy (though he might have if he'd met a certain pure-blood boy of their age) in his life. He had explained the wand choosing the wizard bit and was about to hand the boy his newest wand (standard procedure) when Harry suggested "Dudley's always been a fighter. Maybe a warrior wand would suit him."

"Hmm, would you have ever described him as a bully?" Ollivander asked Harry. Hoping to get a better read on the other boy's character. The show he put on for the kids did get boring. It was faster to ask the people who knew them and narrow things down.

Harry replied "He was but now he's not. He keeps on talking finding a way to heal my legs when we get to Hogwarts."

It all clicked. "Ahh this one will do I think." Garrick handed a wand case to Dudley. "This one is a study in contrasts. Birch and Hippogriff talon, twelve inches long. It will serve you well when healing or hurting. Some of the muggleborns I see in here have compared it to something called a paladin from some game they play."

Dudley's wand reacted perfectly. Next, Lancer got a Holly and phoenix feather wand which would apparently be useful if Voldemort showed up again. The less said about Harry's attempts to find a wand however, the better. Eventually one of them spat out some ruby colored, rose scented, flames that Ollivander seemed to recognize.

"Enough! Mister Potter I am afraid that I simply do not stock the wand core needed for you, nor do I have access to a supplier of it. You'll need to speak to Delacour in France I'm afraid. International Floo is available at Gringotts, and when you see Etienne, mention the spell Passionfyre."

So after paying up, they headed back to Gringotts "International Floo for three people and an animal to France please, fee to be paid from the Black family vault, yes it's a round trip today." Lancer said in an exhausted tone. Him and Harry wanted the shopping to be over with already and this Passionfyre nonsense had just made him take it international.

A quick explanation of how the Floo worked and they were in the French version of Diagon Alley "Directions to the wandmaker please?" Lancer asked in gobbledygook. They were given and this errand was almost over.

Etienne Delacour was a decidedly unattractive man around Vernon's age. Unlike Vernon however he was neither arrogant nor plump. Unlike many wizard's he'd had enough sense to keep himself in shape. Like most of wizarding society he reacted to Harry's presence "Sacre Bleu!" he spoke "What is the Boy Who Lived doing in my shop?" he asked loudly.

This got the attention of his daughters, Fleur and Gabrielle, who came down from the flat over the shop to gawk "Yeah, yeah, stare at the cripple why don't you?" Harry snarked not knowing how to speak french, and thus not knowing what Delacour had said.

Lancer urged him to calm down then spoke to the three French magicals "My young ward here is a tad sensitive about his paralysis. However we are because he needs a certain wand core which Ollivander doesn't stock. He said to mention Passionfyre if that helps."

Three sets of French eyes widened in a comical fashion "The Boy Who Lived is part Veela eh? Sacre bleu! that'll rattle some cages all right!" Etienne Delacour spoke in English before cackling in that way only a Frenchman can cackle. Then he said to Harry "Yeah I've got some wands made with Veela Hair, including two or three more from my mother-in-law. Veela wands are blasted temperamental but they'll make charm work, hexes, and jinxes considerably easier. It's a tricky wand for a tricky wizard or witch."

A careful search through the thirty or so wands Etienne Delacour had in store using Veela Hairs landed Harry with eleven and a half inches of Yew (5*) "Normally a British wand but Garrick was my mentor, that is the last wand made from a batch of wood he gave me as a graduation gift. Something tells me you're gonna go far kid. Bit of advice though- Don't get into a duel with my daughter Fleur as her wand core comes from the same Veela."

Leaving a stack of eleven gold coins on the store counter Harry took the wand and thanked Monsieur Delacour for his time. Getting back to Britain as fast as possible, they took dinner at the Leaky Cauldron (no dessert, Dudley was trying to slim down) and then returned to their home.

The last issue was resolved by the surprise appearance of a face from before Harry was placed with the Dursleys. Lancer had decided that they needed a house sitter, and a week after their shopping trip he brought back a "suitable candidate." A man in shabby clothes by the name of Remus Lupin.

"When he told me I should meet his wards first I wasn't expecting one of them to be you, Harry." Said the man when he walked in. His dim green eyes widened seeing the boy in the wheelchair.

Once again in another world Zelretch laughed though this was more of a warm grandfatherly laugh. Then when he realized the implications of this meeting which was happening more than two years earlier than it was supposed to, then he began to laugh in the way that has a tendency to scare even a Magus shitless.

As the Werewolf sat down at Number Four privet drive, there was a flurry of motion at the Clock Tower. Something had just gone pear shaped in his reality and the Wizard Marshall would be too busy dealing with a very dire derailment of fate in his own world to observe for a while. As a quick preparation he wrote a note and zapped it over to Harry via the Kaleidoscope. It would be ignored but by the time it became relevant it's message would have been thoroughly heeded.

If Zelretch laughing makes the Magi of the Clock Tower scared, him running down the halls too worried to remember he can teleport within a reality, had them gearing up for an apocalypse...

* * *

 **Okay so before we keep going this chapter was relatively weird and relied on a necessary weasels. International Floo is from Triser's Lord Over The Night Sky. If you like Nanoha pop over and check it out. As I said in the starter note Remus will have a much larger role in this both because of the next gen Marauders and partially because of what just happened back in the Moonlit World. As for what that is? well that won't be revealed until after First Year.**

 **Quite a few numbered annotations here sorry about that.**

 **1\. He's been in the Muggle world for three years, it'd be weirder if he didn't have a license.**

 **2\. Tom the Barman's family name isn't revealed in Canon however Hannah Abbot and Neville take over the place** **after he either retires or dies, so I made him Hannah's Gramps.**

 **3\. I don't like how often Goblins are Harry's stalwart allies over some simple courtesy, but they needed to be somewhat cooperative for him to get the hint that will tell him that the Sirius Black situation isn't what it seems down the line.**

 **4\. Okay this might be a cop out but a Servant can understand their own stats right? right?**

 **5\. Yew tends to be for ambitious and magically powerful wizards and witches. With the Veela Hair I'm trying to make it clear that this Harry isn't a fighter, he's a commander and it's bad news when a modern general lands on the front.  
**

 **Sorry it's taking so long for Harry to get to Hogwarts in this one, next chapter Remus Lupin's past, the meeting with Edward Tonks and maybe the Hogwarts express. Definitely an early Nymphadora appearance though.**

 **Cleaned up a bit and modified to fit the revisions to chapter two as of 1/9/19**


	4. A Wolf find's his den

**Loving the feedback I've been getting from this story.**

 **To a guest reviewer- Medea (nor Medea Lily) won't be caster, guess again sorry. However the latter will be part of this in a special way down the line. As for Remus meeting Harry earlier that was a butterfly effect thing.**

 **To Argonaut something or other. Without spoiling anything, something abnormal happened that would have _severe_ consequences down the line if it wasn't dealt with as thoroughly and as quickly as possible.**

 **This version of Zelretch tends to restrict himself to intervening indirectly (for instance giving a seven year old boy the power to summon Servants and turning his cousin into a wizard) unless something goes wrong in a way it wasn't supposed to and even then in his weakened state he usually uses tech and trickery to deal with it.**

* * *

Remus Lupin was the sort who flitted between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds as needed for him to find work. He had ever since graduating Hogwarts. Between the laws that kept on passing despite what Dumbledore _insisted_ were his best efforts as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the already present issues inherent with being a werewolf, a guy had to take paying work where he could find it.

When that work included free lodgings? It tended to be too good to pass up, when he heard Seth Lancer was looking for someone to house sit while him and his charges were at a boarding school in Scotland Remus put two and two together and guessed they were wizards who lived in the Muggle world for one reason or another. He hadn't heard who precisely these kids were but this Lancer guy was well regarded by the mundanes for dealing with the scum who used to live at Number Four Privet Drive.

A quick interview seemed to seal the deal. Weirdly Mister Lancer got more interested in hiring him the more Remus told him. A chronic and incurable illness that made conventional employment difficult, sketchy records due to an isolated school. What seemed to clinch things however was Remus' comment "James Potter would be ashamed if he saw me now."

Lancer's eyes twitched briefly enough that he didn't think that Remus noticed it. "Well it seems you're ideal. One of my young charges has a thing about helping people who need it- why he risked his life for someone who had bullied him. Before we make this official I think you should meet them though. I'm sure it will be a treat."

Lancer's chuckle sent a shiver down the Werewolf's spine. Remus couldn't possibly know how useful he would become down the line but a far better fate awaited him then most of his alternates. For the moment however the former Marauder could only pray he hadn't stepped into a fatal trap.

Then Seth had brought him to the house, and who should he see there but a wheelchair bound James with Lily's eyes. Remus was shocked, joyed and sad all at once. Who would have thought that such a shady job offer would have such a result? But what happened to Harry's legs?

Remus sat down and spoke once more "I don't know what happened to your legs but looking at you, it's like looking at James with Lily staring back."

"My legs are paralyzed. I'm hoping to find a solution at my new school if only to make Dudley quit beating himself up over how it happened." Harry said, giving a pointed look at his cousin "I'm surprised that an adult wizard would be in Surrey at all, much less one who knew my parents. I'm going to have to make sure that you aren't up to something else. Can't be too careful." Harry said.

" **From an Iron Fortress, my army marches. No foe can deceive us, no power can defeat us, no attack can reach us. At an Iron Fortress my allies rest. No injury is too great to be healed here, no burden too great to relieve, no pain too fierce to fade. Such is my Home: CASTLE POTTER!** " (1*)

Harry's Reality Marble swept the room, replacing it with one of those castle sitting rooms you see in medieval movies and shows. "What is your name?" He began his interrogation.

"Remus John Lupin." Spoke the man quickly, the truth coming off of his tongue as though he practiced it in front of a mirror.

"Why are you here?" Harry pressed on.

"I got word of a job offer that was too good to pass up." Remus replied automatically

"Were you really friends with my parents or is that merely an attempt to make yourself look better?"

"James was my first friend. I daresay I would have committed suicide were it not for the hope he gave me." Remus was shocking himself with his own honesty despite Harry's insistent questioning.

"Last question- If you were so close to my Dad why did you let Bumble-dork (2*) leave me with Vernon and Petunia?"

Remus shocked himself when dropping his darkest secret "I'm a werewolf. Laws restrict my rights in Magical Britain making anything but my own business difficult if not impossible. Even that's a pipe dream considering the prejudice. The mundane side is a bit easier but good paying jobs are difficult to find with my special considerations.

Even if I claim to be a Wiccan (3*) there's only so much my records permit me to do. Even if I could find you, it would have looked suspicious if I tried to get custody on the muggle side and once the wizarding side found out you'd be in the hands of some Death Eater faster than I could say 'Victim Blaming'"

Harry tapped his wrist and said " **Normalize!"** in a calm tone. The room returned to normal surprising Remus again. "Sorry about that, Mister Lupin. Even if Voldemort really is gone for good, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the next Dark Lord wannabe decides to go after me. (4*) It's what I'd do."

These words surprised Remus. Slytherin words if he'd ever heard them. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what he expected of James's son. Then again, one doesn't become a prankster without a healthy dose of cunning. "Be that as it may, I can't help but notice what you called Dumbledore. It seems you have a relatively low opinion of him despite never having met the man."

Dudley, who had walked into the room after Harry finished speaking, surprised Remus by getting angry "Dumbledore is probably the one who brought Harry here. A mistake that came within inches of killing him."

"Let's just say that Vernon and Petunia weren't exactly the most loving guardians, and leave it at that. He also made it next to impossible for that truth to come out until they were dead. Now the hens are too busy watching for the signs of abuse like hawks to care about why they didn't seem to notice Lancer walking in here that day." Harry explained quickly.

The ensuing conversation apart from making it clear that Remus was hired, revealed more than a few interesting truths. Most amusing was that Remus, James, along with their friends Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black had formed a prankster's clique at school called "The Marauders" however the name "Black" caught Harry's attention.

"Does this Sirius Black have anything to do with House Black? Because I'm Lord Potter _and_ Lord Black as far as the Goblins are concerned."

It's a very good thing Harry had forgotten to offer refreshments. If Remus had a drink, he would have been spitting it out at that little bombshell. It's fairly minor compared to the long term implications of that particular bit of information. If Sirius betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort why did Harry wind up Lord Black?

Regardless of how it happened this bit of information warranted further investigation. Either Sirius didn't actually betray the Potters which raised a number of other uncomfortable questions, or he did but wasn't actually planning to. Either Remus had been hoodwinked in a different way than he thought or Sirius had gotten careless.

Lancer saw him deep in thought and laid out the situation. "Whatever you're planning, don't put it in action yet. This house is at capacity with the four of us here, five if you count Hope. However it's hardly a suitable residence for a young lord, expertly crafted defenses notwithstanding. I'm planning for a large manor on the mundane side to be built, but that's not going to be fast enough without magic. There are also security concerns regarding this. I'm decent in combat magic but wards _really_ aren't my thing."

Remus sniffed up an opportunity and _pounced_ "I assume the same logic applies to the work crew as does the house sitting? I'd be willing to put you in contact with some of the more peaceful packs as a workforce but I'm a well known integrator, and meeting them might be dangerous."

Lancer looked at Harry who said "Get the wolves to build Potter manor, and you'll have the honor of being it's first majordomo, with permission to establish your own pack as guards. This is however conditional on your taking a Wizard Knight's Oath to me." Lancer fed him the words from the various books on wizard culture the Servant had read.

Remus nodded and pulled his wand pointing at his own heart "I Remus John Lupin do swear my life in the service of Harry James Potter. My blade shall be ready to meet his foes as shall be those of my own followers. So long as he abides by his oath to me I shall abide by this oath to him. So mote it be" a flash of gold.

Harry pulled his own wand and mimicking Remus' movement "I Harry James Potter do swear to provide as the service of my knights is deserving so long as I am able. Remus John Lupin shall, for so long as he is loyal, will not lack for shelter nor food. He will be allowed to raise forces, and should he need my aid he shall have it. Nor will I ever lie to him or ask of him that which may only be called evil. So mote it be" Again, Lancer was feeding him the words telepathically.

With the oaths sealed Remus wasted no time moving in. The wards would, while Dudley still thought of that place as home, insure the neighbors wouldn't get curious about Remus' presence. As for the full moon, Lancer was use his knowledge as a Forest Sage and devise a ritual which would grant Ramus the capacity to change at will or not at all. Though Harry did swear him to secrecy regarding the source of this ritual.

When the day came for the meeting with Edward Tonks, Harry and Lancer met him at a local mundane restaurant. Mister Tonks had brought along a very cautious young woman, most likely as a bodyguard. He was a portly but pleasant sort. The young woman with him seemed the type to like punk rock, right down to the outrageous hair. Bubblegum pink and spiked of all things!

They spotted Harry, Hope, and Lancer, then made their way over. When Mister Tonks sat down at the table the waiter finally came around for their orders. They all wanted fish and chips, simple enough to remember.

They got their food and began to talk business "Well when I received a letter from Gringotts about a potential client I was quite surprised. Now I'm even more surprised, didn't think the boy who lived would need a barrister or that he'd be in a wheelchair."

"Well I wasn't expecting to lose use of my legs either. Or that a bunch of people would use my name and likeness without either asking my permission or paying up." Harry deadpanned "Lancer here will tell you the gritty details but you aren't just being hired as a barrister."

Lancer took his cue "The young master has certain unusual requests that, while not exactly fitting under the purview of an attorney, require confidentiality and a knowledge of both sides. Naturally these will be paid separately from your assistance with the matter of the books but they are just as important if not more so."

Edward Tonks was getting cautious but his companion was more outspoken "And just what do you expect my father to do that has you acting so shifty?" She asked clarifying their relationship. "Usually people only ask for discretion when asking for something bad."

"We need information on the Sirius Black case, reason being that a gaping hole in the version of events most people believe recently was brought to our attention. Secondly, Harry is interested in the acquisition of artefacts related to historical and legendary figures but for very good reasons doesn't want this interest to become public knowledge" Lancer evenly replied "Beyond that a thorough investigation of Albus Dumbledore as his actions with regards to Harry indicate incompetence or malice."

That got their attention alright. After the story behind that conclusion was told "I'd call it tosh but the man is working three separate jobs when he should be keeping an eye on the kid he personally placed with a foster family. It makes sense to want him looked into after that." the food had been finished by this point. "There's still the matter of my pay rate to be discussed however." Mister Tonks said jovially.

"I was thinking five Sickles for each Galleon you got from the book writers, forty galleons for each day you spend on the Dumbledore investigation, with the artefacts being a case by case basis, as they are the most unpredictable element and we only need a few of them. The wider you cast your net on that the better by the way." Lancer explained.

"Seth" Lancer and Edward Tonks shook hands upon a deal that while slightly weighted in Harry's favor was considerably better than anything the average pureblood would be willing to offer. The case that would make Edward Tonks the wealthiest First Generation wizard in England, and fund the construction of a new Potter Manor.

In a castle up in northern Scotland, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore laughed in a megalomaniac episode, not realizing how many of his plots were about to fall apart or indeed had already. Harry Potter was no longer alone in either world, the Heroes of Old and new alike would make sure of that.

* * *

In another world however Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg had been having a rough couple of weeks. He could see the future to an extent and quite a few of the possible ones had gone pear shaped in his reality thanks to events which took place as Remus had been meeting with Harry at Privet Drive.

He was almost finished with the preparations but he needed to make absolutely certain he had everything he needed. He wasn't trying to actualize a new mystery but there wasn't any margin for error. If he got this wrong a certain vicious idiot (Though there were far more of those in the moonlit world than he was comfortable with) would have Counter Guardians all over the place under the best of conditions.

"Let me see… Three hundred liters of purified pyrethrum, a literal tonne of explosives, and one deliberately nonviable (5*) homunculus of the appropriate weight and dental arrangement to bring the authorities down on the aftermath in case that bastard gets uncooperative. Ingredients for a ritual created by one of the many versions of Harry Potter, and a magic core provided by a fallen Servant ready for implantation… I'm missing something. Damnation! Wand!"

He popped into Ollivanders shop in the targeted reality "Don't freak out." Zelretch said to Garrick "What would you need beyond the actual materials to make a custom wand for someone whom you've never met and who can't be physically present in the shop?"

Ollivander pondered this interesting question for a moment and decided to take the challenge "Pensieve memories, at least one hour worth of them, the more recent the better." Showing the mysterious customer to his own Pensieve he said "I'd imagine you don't use wands wherever you're from. Just concentrate on your memories of the person in question."

Tapping his wand to the Dead Apostle's temple he pulled the memories of this mystery person from his head. Looking through them he made his decision quickly "Rowan, definitely rowan, a full foot long. Unfortunately I don't stock a light aligned wand core material powerful enough to face that much darkness." He spoke shocked by what he had seen. Then he reconsidered "No, what I need is light from within darkness for this wand."

Zelretch scratched his beard and asked "In other words, what's required is something from a powerful creature, one well attuned to good despite having endured and or commited great evils?" At Garrick's slow nod, the vampire sighed in relief "Then I know right where to look." A rapid jaunt across the kaleidoscope yielded the necessary material.

"Don't ask where I got it, or what it is. All you need to know is that it fits the description and the person you're making this wand for has quite the affinity with the being it is from" Zelretch said when he returned. "As for payment- " Zelretch pulled three small emeralds from the pockets of his suit "This ought to be enough. One for your time and the wood you use, two for your _silence_." That last word had more bite in it than he thought he'd use.

As Ollivander set about his work with Zelretch watching he couldn't help but wonder how the vampire had gotten past his counter apparition wards. The only real option was that his teleportation methods wasn't apparition. Even so what he had seen was horrifying. The wand maker hoped that this creation of his would help more than he'd hoped for anything before...

* * *

 **And Harry's Reality Marble shows itself, I'd imagine you can figure out all it's abilities just from his aria, which takes twenty three seconds to recite. (timed myself with a stopwatch)**

 **Also any Lawyers or PI's reading this sorry if I got the going rates wrong. I'm basing PI rates off Dresden files (assuming five quid per Galleon) and settlement details on what sounded fair to me.**

 **Next Chapter the precise details of what the hell Zelretch is up to get revealed.**

 **Dumbledore's actions over the past decade will be explained as well- he had a good reason to go bad and leaving Harry at the Dursley's wasn't all he's done to those he supposedly fights for.**

 **Numbered annotations**

 **1\. Needed it to take time to set up but it's worth the third of a minute the spell takes to cast properly.**

 **2\. Pretty sure I'm the first one to call him that but he isn't stupid in this one he's out and out evil for balance reasons**

 **3\. Religion accommodation laws, Something I picked up from "Royal Ward" by Catstaff. Thank you.**

 **4\. A point which is never brought up by ANYONE in canon book one. When I was eleven it was one of the points I raised in book club- If he's taken down one the next is probably going to come after him first.**

 **5\. As in he made a homunculus to be stillborn on purpose at the size he needed it. Immoral but (so he thinks) necessary to make sure things get settled on his end.**

 **Cleaned up a bit explain a minor rewrite as of 1/12/19**


	5. Hopping on the Train

**Okay I say again. I am loving the feed back from this story.**

 **A few slight changes have been made, the identity of Saber has changed but since she hasn't been summoned yet no edits to the story will be required. She'll be one of two servants summoned in the summer after second year. The Basilisk and certain other issues prompting Harry to realize he needs more boots on the ground.**

 **She still won't be Artoria though.**

 **Again I don't own Harry Potter or the Fate series. I don't own Kamen Rider or GhostBusters either.**

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was a complicated, calculating, and manipulative man despite his carefully groomed image of a polite grandfatherly sort, despite for very logical reasons, not having any grandchildren. His homosexuality was one of the many things he'd been forced to hide, one of the many reasons he wanted to watch the wizarding world suffer.

One of the many reasons he'd placed Harry with a known magic hating family. Their champion would be left easy to mold into a suicidal wreck, and the broken sheep would turn on each other after he was gone. Destroying utterly the thing he had learned in one painful lesson after another to despise- that is to say the Wizarding world.

It is true that some men just want to watch the world burn of course. However people are typically not that way before being taught to hate the world by unrelenting, and unyielding tragedy. The abyss has a way of staring back at people and Albus Dumbledore had not only been forced to look into it his whole life, he had long since blinked.

The laws barring werewolf rights? Yeah right, let them join Voldemort and rip these ungrateful and inbred morons limb from limb! Remus Lupin's father dismissed every werewolf in the world as evil murdering bastards then got his son turned into one of them, that would show him the error of that particular way to think. Let the racist bastard watch helplessly as his son's rights were stripped away by one law after another just because Lyall could not mind his tongue in front of an enemy.

Changing the attitudes of the students? Definitely not happening, he could just call himself too busy for that. Albus did have three jobs at once after all any one of which would take the full attention of lesser men. If that did not work he'd just claim that the damn pure-bloods were too set in their ways for anything short of hard evidence to force them to change.

The report that Petunia and Vernon had been killed by some good Samaritan was disconcerting but at least said individual was willing to take the post as Physical Education Coach. It should be simple enough to convince them to sign over magical guardianship of mister Potter. After all so long as Harry's life was miserable leading the kid by the nose into one dangerous situation after another shouldn't be too hard, and an arranged marriage to Ginny Weasley ought to be plenty to control the boy...

In another reality Zelretch was paying his dues for the plan he'd enacted "Custom built new bodies courtesy of Atlas, and a little help from an individual who can wield Heaven's Feel. You two are ready to face a brand new world."

Illya asked "Will I be getting more family there?"

Zelretch looked at the now perfectly healthy thirteen year old girl and said "I won't say it's impossible. No matter what world you're in there will be plenty of orphans. Furthermore…" Zelretch used gradation air to make a mirror "The Atlas team seem to have _misunderstood_ the parameters." The vampire couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "If your dad wants to remarry, he'll have little difficulty attracting a lady."

Kiritsugu was more than a little surprised, it was still definitely him of course, just perfected physically. He wore a T-shirt and jeans meaning that nothing was shown but the shape of the body was unmistakable "It's like I lived life as a martial artist instead an assassin and a magus. I feel more vigorous than ever." Looking at the Dead Apostle, he asked "Okay Zelretch, what's up with the world you're sending us to?"

Zel dispelled the mirror and replied "Magecraft will be easier and won't diminish with every new user, but you won't be up against foes you're used to dealing with. The natures of vampirism and lycanthropy are very different. Even that world's link to the Throne of Heroes is downright absurd. Not to mention this world has its own special kind of crazy you'll have never even heard of before."

That got Kiritsugu and Ilya's attention -after all if a dimension hopping vampire prankster calls it absurd it has to be out there- "However I specialize in making crazy situations crazier, so take this." Zelretch pulled a rectangular object from his coat "It is a variant on the Kaleido-stick I have dubbed the 'Kaleido-Driver'."

Kiritsugu asked "What like Kamen Rider?"

Zelretch got a manic grin and said "Yup. I'll even start you off with all seven Class Cards" before giving a brief explanation of what class card did what and which hero each channeled(1*) "Now you'll have a few years of peace before things get interesting where I'm sending you, with enough gemstones to have a cozy life. Keep the Kaleido-Driver and the class cards on you at all times. Also I'd advise against pulling the overprotective Dad thing when Illya gets a boyfriend, you'll just get put in a hospital, or possibly guilt tripped by him unintentionally."

"Am I really that fragile? This body feels like it's at the uppermost limits of human strength and endurance!" Kiritsugu said out of feigned indignance.

"So it is, but if you set up in the city I'm zapping you into, the guy Illya will eventually bring home will most likely be superhuman, utterly devoted to her mind you, but still superhuman, Servant Level in fact."

Taking the items Zelretch had prepared for them, father and daughter began their journey across the kaleidoscope, to a world that would test them but would almost certainly give them happiness in the end, even if Kiritsugu was justifiably a little apprehensive about his daughter's first boyfriend being as strong as a Heroic Servant. However Zelretch did say this mystery dude would be utterly devoted to the girl, so he couldn't be all bad.

With his latest business transaction completed, it was time for the Wizard Marshall to take care of business in Fuyuki. After all now that he had Avalon and knew how to perform the Purification Rite that one version of Harry Potter had used to save Sakura there was nothing Zolgen could do to stop Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.

Teleporting to the desired location with a ghost-buster style backpack loaded up with Pyrethrum. He walked right up to the door and simply knocked. Shortly thereafter a purple haired girl with the single most broken expression he'd ever seen greeted him "Excuse me sir, but what are you doing here?" she asked in a dull tone.

"Well this is anticlimactic." Zelretch muttered to himself before replying "Terribly sorry about this but I'm getting you out of here now!" Zapping them both back to London before she could react to his sudden declaration. In an instant they were safely back in his workshop.

Sakura was scared, after all "You're crazy, no one defies grandfather-"

"I just did. Also his name is Zolgen, and he's no relation to you, so use his name." Zelretch replied "And before you say he can find you, he can't. This room is in a bounded field that nullifies the link between crest worms and their master or nexus or whatever that damned freak is to them."

Sakura couldn't believe it grandfather was going to make things even worse the next time she was in the mansion. "Don't get yourself killed because of me. He'll feed you to the worms same as he did Kariya." she said lamely.

"Nope." Zelretch pointed at a ritual circle "Stand in the middle of that circle, or I'll teleport you there." he said "With a little help two of the better tempered Magi, I'll make it so that those worms never mess with you again. Minus the hair color and your elements it'll be like it never happened."

Sakura complied with the orders- after all she had nothing better to do. "You'll never be able to save me. No one ever will." she commented even as the worms were being transformed into ordinary magic circuits and the damage they had done to her body was reversed. Even as the taints known Angra Mainyu and Zolgen Makiri were burned from her.

"You're right on one thing, Sakura- it's not my role to save you." Zelretch activated the Kaleidoscope showing her a truly vast number of different worlds "The boy who was destined to save you was murdered about a month ago for completely unrelated reasons mind you. His name was Shirou Emiya. However in other worlds, other versions of him and others still fight on to save other versions of you.

"And you know what most of these versions of you have in common? That blasted worm pit and Shinji treating you like a plaything." Zelretch paused to let that sink in before dropping his finisher "And in quite a few of them Sakura Matou lives happily ever after with the one who saved her."

Sakura was running through various emotions, hope, shock, amazement, joy, sadness, guilt. That many different people going through that many different kinds of trouble to save that many different versions on her "That's impossible unless..."

The vampire knew that he'd broken through the defiance against hope. He'd won and now Zolgen was about to lose in, for that worm at least, the worst way possible "That's right girl, speak the words that just occurred to you." Circling around her Zelretch coaxed her further "You can stay mute and go back to being a doll of course, but it'd be much more entertaining if you spoke the words that they all pray to hear from you, that your heart is ready to let roar.

"Go ahead, don't be shy, let that emotion which has newly sprung from your heart echo across the Kaleidoscope to everyone who has ever fought for you, helping them find the strength to win. It's the least you can do, considering that they've put their lives on the line."

Sakura's eyes once dulled with the darkness of a nightmare that refused to end, now burned with the light of someone who finally has a way to win. She spoke up "I matter. Help me." four little words that would mean the world to anyone who knew the nightmare she'd been through. Four little words that altered her own perception of reality just because she dared to say them. Turning to Zelretch "Will that help them?" she asked smiling her first smile in years.

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't." Zel replied flippantly "The point is that it helped you." Switching the kaleidoscope view to the many different versions of a certain young wizard-magus hybrid. "This is the guy I'm planning on sending you to. His name is Harry Potter and in just about every world where his path and yours meet, he saves you." Zelretch got a grandfatherly smile upon his face

"Be it as a stranger with a thing about helping people, a brother you didn't realize you had, or more commonly a love you couldn't believe you deserved. No matter what his connection to you, his presence almost always turns out in your favor. Hell one time he was an adult when you met and he kept you from ever going into that damned pit." (2*)

These many variations on Harry Potter, and the fact that the worms had finally stopped making her miserable, convinced her "I'm ready to go to him!" she declared proudly.

Zelretch chuckled "You are not even close to ready. Your heart is ready which is quite a bit better than I'd hoped. Your mind however still doesn't know the dangers of the wizarding world, nor is your magic capable of blending into it." Showing her to guest room of his quarters he ordered her "No magecraft for a week, do physical exercise if you must, but do not attempt to actualize any form of mystery."

The Dead Apostle's words brooked no disobedience, even without an explanation. The surgery to implant the magical core required the circuits to be resting or better yet dormant. Just because he had Avalon didn't mean Zel was going to take any unnecessary risks. As for why he was now buying more food than usual that could be explained by saying that he'd taken on an apprentice who didn't like attention and wasn't familiar with English cuisine.

Vague enough to cause speculation without action and had the novelty of being the truth. The only wrinkle in his plan was how to deal with Zolgen. He'd really been feeling like painting something with blood but when a simpler solution presents itself you take it.

Hiring enforcers to storm the place seemed the more reasonable course of action, now that he had Sakura safely away from Zolgen. When he posted the job he made it clear that all of Zolgen's knowledge was to be erased not collected, and certainly not recorded, a geas contract was mandatory and no fewer than ten enforcers would be needed for the attack.

Was it strictly speaking necessary to kill Zolgen? Not really, but the Grail War couldn't be allowed to restart, not if the grail fragments present within Sakura prior to the ritual were anything to go by. Most Magi are immoral but Zelretch had never once forgotten that while Magi stand apart from humanity they must not cast it aside. An ironic thought coming from the Dead Apostle, but hey he had his condition forced on him.

When the seven days came he was pleasantly surprised to find that Sakura had followed his orders to the letter. "Excellent. The procedure you've been leaving magecraft alone in preparation for requires you to be unconscious. I'll be implanting a magical core within your body. This will allow you to use the form of magic wielded by wizard and witches."

Sakura's eyes widened because while she was young, she knew what that meant. "Don't be scared. You have Avalon to protect you from any complications from the surgery and I've done this before without it."

Sakura nodded and laid down on the gurney, waiting for Zelretch to hypnotize her to sleep. The vampire did so and set about the operation that would make Sakura a witch. The magical core was from an alternate Rider from the Fifth war. Sakura did have high affinity for Medusa and her kin after all.

Between the operator's prior experience in magical core implantation and the healing powers of Avalon this particular surgery was a snap. When Sakura woke Zel told her "Congratulations you are now a witch. And a witch needs a wand."

Zelretch walked over to a case he'd been keeping in his workshop for some time now. "This contains one that I commissioned especially for you. Rowan and a single hair from Heroic Spirit Medusa, twelve inches long. It's also been modified to function as one of my proudest creations, a Kaleido-Stick! Used properly this thing will let you fight on par with Heroic Spirits." Zel handed her the case.

Sakura was still a bit groggy, and her body hurt from the operation she'd just gone through "Can we start tomorrow? I wanna sleep." she spoke, after all waking up tired is a very unpleasant experience.

"Of course. In point of fact it's frankly impossible for me to use wizard magic, so I'll just teach you to use the Kaledo-stick part of it. That should take about two months. After that I'll be trusting your training in the ways of the wizarding world to the adoptive grandson (3*) of a certain alternate of mine." Zelretch explained "Now go back to sleep, I'll have some food brought around for you."

The hard part of Zelretch's mission to help her was over. Now all he had to do was keep an eleven year old girl busy while he waited on Black Wing to finish up whatever inter-dimensional adventure he'd been dragged along on. "I wonder how Harry's doing."...

* * *

When September first rolled around Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley, Hope, Hedwig, and Lancer boarded the Hogwarts express with a minimum of fuss. After successfully acquiring the instructions on how to reach platform nine and three quarters from a brood of redheads that whose mother had decided to play the "I already know this but do you" game with the one girl who was herself too young to go to Hogwarts just yet.

When they did board the train, the twins, who looked to be thirteen or thereabouts, wasted no time in ditching their younger brother. Understandable, but very much not nice. Lancer motioned for the other boy to join his little group but the red haired boy rapidly got scared of sharing a compartment with the new teacher.

He bailed, though not before tripping on a toad that happened to be in the Train's corridor. Lancer picked the toad up and sighed "This probably belongs to someone." At Harry's disgusted look "What? They probably miss their toad."

The group soon found an empty compartment, and Dudley started practicing with his light element magecraft, the lack of interference by Gaia made actualizing mysteries easier in their world, and the fact that most wizard and witches dismissed anything but their use of wands as power made it unlikely that others would attempt to learn Mage Craft.

"Reveal and Purify!" Dudley spoke. He had chosen his arias carefully in order to be mysterious without losing all connection between the words and the spell they were linked to. Light shone from his hand, Lancer had a theory that he'd be able to defeat spiritual beings of a malevolent nature with his spells but that was just a theory at this point.

A bushy haired girl came in right after Dudley changed into his robes and asked if they had seen a toad "Is this the toad you're looking for?" When Trevor was confirmed to be the toad in question, he was rapidly handed over. "I look forward to seeing you in physical education." Lancer said cordially.

"Thank you Professor Lancer." she said then gestured for her male companion to say the same. The boy, who introduced himself as Neville Longbottom did so and the duo left the compartment.

Many steps had been taken towards altering fate, many things were still arrayed against him but the summoning system he was implanted with would grant the power necessary if he was careful...

* * *

 **Dumbledore, Zelretch and the Hogwarts express have been covered next chapter things go off the rails even further with the sorting and the first few lessons in both worlds happen.**

 **1\. With his massive hero complex I really would find it more surprising if Kiritsugu didn't know what Kamen Rider was.**

 **2\. All of which have happened in various HP/ Fate series crosses by Quatermass, whose "In Spite of Obstinate Men" a non-crossover HarryxFleur was the first fanfic I ever read- LOVED IT!**

 **3\. Lupine Horror's take on a Harry Potter in the Nasuverse goes by Black Wing in realities where there is already a Harry Potter. Thanks for letting me use him to explain how Sakura learned Wizard Magic.**


	6. Prelude to chaos

**There is a poll up on my profile which will determine which girl Dudley is paired with. Keep in mind that the membership of Harry's Harem will not change regardless of how that poll turns out. Once fourth year begins that poll closes, if it ends in a tie I as writer reserve the right to break said tie.**

 **Furthermore I'm going to post Servant stats in the AN's along with any original or altered Noble Phantasms. The stats may or may not be their canonical ones, but I already noted that Harry's Origin was messing things up. You'll notice that with one exception the Servant's will have low luck stats, and there is another pattern that you may pick up on which I'm not telling.**

 _ **Lancer:**_

 _ **True Name- Cuchulain.**_

 _ **Strength- A Rank.**_

 _ **Endurance- C Rank.**_

 _ **Agility- A+ Rank.**_

 _ **Luck- D Rank.**_

 _ **Mana- B Rank**_

 _ **Noble Phantasms - B Rank:**_

 _ **Gae Bolg- a crimson spear that can reverse cause and effect to nearly guarantee a strike to the heart. Divine levels of good luck, or other counter death protocols required for survival.**_

 _ **Apprentice's Grimoire- a book which can record spells cast in the view of the owner, requires permission from the person who cast the spell, the full incantation and the purpose of the spell in question. (Original Content, based on his training with Scathach in the legend)**_

 _ **Overall ability score- 23.5**_

 _ **Additional notes- since he is a Celtic spell weaver, his summoned state has the powers of a Druid, this allows him to create new solutions when dealing with forest and meadow type creatures or beings.**_

 **That's about how I'll lay it out E-A matching up to 1-5 with a plus sign giving half a point, is this how that ranks really behave? No. Do I particularly care? Again no I'm just trying to give ball park estimates on overall power here. Other interesting quirks will be given a nod as well.**

 **Lancer won't be the only to gain strange abilities though the (Profession A + Homeland B=Profession C) thing, there are other combos of that which I will be having some fun with.**

* * *

It was a peaceful train ride at first, unusual sweets notwithstanding. Dudley abstained from them "I think it would be smart to lay off desert for a while, considering what happened to that man." he said and then simply continued doing his light-element mage-craft. He didn't really need to worry about running out of magical power after all he had thirty blue blood circuits and a magical core to draw from.

Light element magecraft was more than a little bit esoteric, so he had to be daring about how he tried to apply it. Light was a form of radiation which meant that at higher levels it would be extremely dangerous, but at levels available to his pools of energy it was probably little more than a distraction. His own style of magecraft would more than likely be focused towards fighting monsters that like darkness.

WInd elemental mage craft was a bit more useful, but his willpower wouldn't hold up past two or three wind blades, something to work on over time. Lancer was quite insistent that he was doing well for a boy his age, particularly one with not even a month of training, but so far as Dudley was concerned he had eleven years of slacking off to make up for.

His practice was interrupted by a trio of boys who entered the compartment. The blonde one was strutting as though he owned the train they were on. Lancer decided to leave this problem to his charges and astralized. "I heard that the great Harry Potter was in this compartment. I am Draco Malfoy" gesturing to the boy on his left "This is Vincent Crabbe," now to the right " and Gregory Goyle."

Now smiling that same ridiculously uncharming smile Dudley had worn far too many times. Draco Malfoy spoke "I think you'll find that some wizarding families are better than others. I'd be perfectly happy help you learn which is which. Don't want our hero falling in with the wrong sort after all."

Harry looked over Draco Malfoy and as befitting the grand tradition of Marauders Harry began some antics "Hey Dudley, this is guy is reminding me of someone but I can not for the life of me figure out who." He said prompting the Muggleborn Wizard to speak up.

"Well Harry, add a stone or two of weight to your image of him and you'd be looking at a version of me brought up in the wizarding world, without what happened at the end of July to help him." Dudley spoke with a grimace.

"As if I'm anything like you mudblood filth!" Draco then spat at Dudley.

"Well it looks as though you and I just will not be able to get along." Harry said calmly. "Dudley if you would be so kind as to demonstrate the difference between him and you."

Dudley nodded and actualized his wind type mage craft "Howl and Scour!" Blasting the trio of bullies right out of the compartment. "And stay out!" he said. Lancer rematerialized at that point and sat back down.

"You do realize that you probably just started a war right?" The Heroic Spirit asked "Brats like that tend to hold grudges and until he gets the incorrectness of his views thrown in his face he'll probably resent you. Even then it's entirely possible he'll lose it and turn into a real nightmare down the line. Admittedly it's unlikely he'll be much of a threat but our knowledge of Wizard craft is limited."

Lancer's implication was clear- That for all they knew Wizards might have a way to defeat spiritual beings. If that was the case then even Heroic Spirits needed to tread carefully when fighting them. Dudley then helped the Wheelchair bound wizard into his robes like a dutiful lackey (even if Harry now considered him a friend).

When the train stopped Lancer said "This is where we part ways for the moment. Be careful and I'll see you up at the castle."

A very large man was yelling for the first years to follow him. Harry and Dudley, along with the hundred or so other first year students proceeded to the shore of a lake. "Careful Cousin, we both know that neither of us can swim." Dudley commented, as Hope hopped in the boat with them.

"One more problem to solve, on a list that grows with each passing day." Harry said, unintentionally flaring his magic. "We'll solve it eventually, Lancer might just make it a part of the Physical Education curriculum, but for now we need to focus on learning wizard craft and mage craft. Fixing my legs may be a big deal to you but it isn't to me."

A blonde girl joined them and asked "Mind another passenger?" The two boys motioned for her to join them and she hopped in just before the whole fleet set sail. "I'm Daphne Greengrass. Heiress of House Greengrass. Everyone should know who you are, Lord Potter, though what's with the chair?"

Speaking up before Dudley could self derogate "I'm paralyzed from the waist down. This chair is a muggle contraption that allows such people a measure of mobility. Until someone figures out how to restart the nerves in my legs or I finish the enchanted armor I'm working on, Hope here," the Dog in question gave a friendly bark "Will have to pull me as I'm not all that strong."

Dudley then piped up "Though it's worth noting that Harry here is Lord Black as well. Apparently the person in charge of House Black preferred him as an heir over the Malfoy Ponce." Lancer and Harry's habit of snark had rubbed off on the larger boy.

"I'd forgotten about that bit. Yeah, apparently no one informed him that he got passed over in favor of me for a Wizengamot seat. Might have kept him from trying to befriend me and saved me and Dudley some trouble."

Daphne was shocked by their casual dismissal of the blond boy "The Malfoy family can make trouble for you. They are one of the oldest wizarding families in britain and have the wealth to back it up."

Harry smirked "I spent ten years in a place where I was resented for my very existence. Unable to run, unable to fight. All I could do was watch and learn, and I've always been a very good student. The wizarding world is a different story entirely. Now I'm a very big fish in what appears to be a medium sized pond. If Bad Faith annoy me with their antics I'll provide antics of my own."

At the end of Harry's little speech, the first years got their first sight of Hogwarts, and all of them were impressed by the view, with the exception of the Malfoy prat and his bookends who were, by cosmic coincidence in the next boat over.

The first years reached the docks and were promptly handed off to a stern looking woman who introduced herself as Minerva Mcgonagall who would be teaching Transfiguration.

"In moment you will be sorted into one of the four houses, each values different qualities, but each has in it's time produced outstanding witches and wizards. Garrick Ollivander, england's foremost wandmaker was from Ravenclaw. Damocles Belby, inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion was as slytherin as they come. Newton Scamander, author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', was a Hufflepuff. Gryffindor produced none other than Albus Dumbledore." She explained painfully unaware of her employer's true colors.

The sorting proceeded apace, and when Dudley was sorted into Gryffindor Mcgonagall got a look of pride, The Evans line had always made them daring after all. No, what threw her off was what happened during Harry's sorting. He rolled up to the other chair and carefully donned the hat

"Well well mister Potter, I'll just take a look see around and-" suddenly Godfrey was forced to speak aloud "Gahh what the bloody hell is wrong with your mind!" After that you could hear a pin drop in the great hall. Highly unusual.

"It's not safe to wander around a castle without guidance from it's residents. Never know what sort of nasty trap you'll step in." Harry replied with as chiding a tone as he could manage telepathically. "I don't take kindly to people who try to learn my secrets. I can't risk any enemies learning some of what's in my mind, nothing personal against you."

"Well that actually simplifies matters a great deal. Honestly though, I'm not authorized to reveal anything to the headmaster without a guardian's permission, and your 'guardian' is a summoned Spirit. As for your house, well clearly you've got the tricks to make the scumbags look like fools."

"What can you tell me about the headmaster then? I'm guessing you see him more than once a year and frankly I'd prefer to believe incompetence rather than malice but I need to know which it is definitively before I take action."

"Well that question really picks out your House perfectly. Regarding Albus he's setting you up to catalyze the wizarding world's destruction. He's got suspicions about other soul anchors that Voldy might be using but he's not acting on them either." The hat then yelled "Better be Slytherin."...

* * *

In another Reality Zelretch began to teach Sakura how to use the Kaleido-stick which had been modified not to place the embarrassing outfit on the wielder, instead using the clothes they were already wearing at "Include" and the Heroic Spirit's outfit for "Install"

"Okay, time for your Class Cards. The Harry I'm sending you to has made me laugh really hard a couple of times, so I'll start you off with three." Pulling out the Saber Class Card, "This one summons the power set from the Princess of Knights, Artoria Pendragon."

Sakura took the card and, following the practiced movements spoke "Include!" it transformed into the legendary sword Caliburn. Then she spoke "Install!" Suddenly the black pants and T-shirt she was wearing changed into a white dress with a cuirass.

Moving around in it was surprising easily, and soon Zelretch was training her in the use of a sword "Ordinarily I wouldn't bother training a Kaleid Liner, however a sentient Kaleido-Stick would draw unwanted attention once you get there." He said even between strikes, "As someone who prefers power be handled safely if not responsibly I need to make sure you've mastered the class cards I send you with."

Okay that was a bold faced lie. The Dead Apostle was still just killing time until Black Wing showed up, but the particular set of Class Cards he'd drawn from the throne of heroes for Sakura's use were a little unusual.

The Lancer Card drew power from a Hindu goddess, and not even a militant one. The Archer card was linked to the Greek Huntress Atalante. Rider was that girl who beat Tarrasque into submission back in the day. Caster was even more strange, something rather similar to the Saber card only linked to the legend of the Argo and Medea.

The other two cards were actually the only ones he'd actually chosen on purpose. Assassin was Hassan of Serenity, a seductress whose body produced poisons that would make touching her fatal. The ability to turn her body toxic at will would prevent Sakura from suffering like she already had again. Berserker was Florence Nightingale, whose abilities and mania focused on healing, if Harry hadn't worked out the _riddle_ about fixing his legs by the time Sakura was sent there, her abilities would...

* * *

Back at Hogwarts Harry woke up with the distinct impression that some old man was plotting something. "Probably just the headmaster." he muttered before setting off to his first day of classes.

Charms was interesting. The teacher was a very short man named Filius Flitwick whom when Harry politely asked if the man had Goblin ancestry gave a face splitting grin and said "Five points to Slytherin, for guessing that on the first day." then proceeded to explain the basics of theory which were completely alien to Harry's prior training.

Harry Potter realized that his prior instruction in Mage Craft would not be applicable to Wizard craft and thus he would need to study harder on it. After all, Voldemort was probably still alive, given the soul anchor Lancer had destroyed. Even if Voldemort was really gone, the hat had confirmed that Albus Dumbledore was an enemy as well.

Harry needed to be ready for action, and his unusual element and origins would make it exceedingly difficult to fight using magecraft, all he could really do in that department was Gandr, and while that had its uses it was just one spell.

The thing about being a one trick pony is that most of the time, eventually someone is going to find a way around that trick, and then you're doomed. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and Harry was not willing to gamble on himself being one. After the lesson Harry was set to head for potions. Down in the dungeons, same as the Slytherin Common room.

Right as Professor Snape arrived Malfoy tried again with the blood purist crap. Dudley shut the poince up in a downright inspired manner. To wit, he turned Draco's hair a very specific shade of ginger with a simple color change charm(1*) which really made the Potions master chuckle.

"Five points from Slytherin for mouthing off, and five to Gryffindor for creative solutions." Snape barked surprising himself. "Wands away, and be ready to take notes. Potions is one of the more subtle forms of magic but it is a magic nonetheless. The dedicated study of this art can work wonders that no spell can replicate. However since there isn't much wand waving and the average witch or wizard isn't patient at all few people attempt to master it."

"Finally someone starts making sense around here." Harry said.

Professor Snape looked like someone had slapped him pretty hard "Any explanation why you're sitting in that muggle contraption Potter." he sneered trying to recover his stride.

"Sir, Professor Mcgonagall assured me that she'd explain to the other teachers about the fact that I am paralysed from the waist down. Dudley's trying to find a way to fix it and I'm trying to build a work around. In the meantime you are going to have to put up with a few irregularities."

"Well mister Celebrity, what would I get from adding powdered asphodel root to an infusion of wormwood?" The greasy haired professor asked with venom and steel in his voice.

"There are three potions that use those ingredients albeit in varying amounts, a wide range antidote named Counter Force, Fleamont Potter's Sleekeazy Hair product, and Draught of Living Death, which if I am not mistaken is a potent sedative." He'd read all about poisons and antidotes, and his family still owned the Sleekeazy patent.

"How would someone go about harvesting bezoars?" Snape asked.

"Cutting open the stomachs of goats." Bezoar related once more to his Magus-like training.

"What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?" The teacher continued to question.

"They are the same plant. I certainly had to deal with that infernal stuff more times than I'd have liked as a kid." What was with Petunia Dursley and her garden anyway?

The Potions instructor was shocked; How could the offspring of the bully who'd made his school years a nightmare be so intelligent? Then he took a look at the boys posture and expression. There was nothing in either of James Potter or Lily Evans. It was Arland Evans. Lily's father, a decorated military officer, and the primary reason why Severus had survived to get his Hogwarts letter

A man whom had walked right into the house of a domestic abuser, broken no fewer than six of Tobias Snape's bones and permanently scared the drunkard into behaving. A man who held Severus' enduring respect even so many years later. "I believe that earns the five points mister Malfoy lost Slytherin back rather efficiently mister Potter." Severus said surprising himself.

Harry had the foresight to copy down the instructions, and Dudley was kind enough to help him with the preparation of the potion. Cooperation between those two houses was rare. More difficult to find was the sort of implicit trust the Gryffindor had in and from Potter. The two, in spite of how cautious and analytical they'd been, thought nothing of turning their backs to each other.

It was a beauteous thing the fact that they could believe in each other like that. If only Severus had not betrayed Lily to the Death Eaters perhaps he'd have been able to manage that level of trust in someone.

Perhaps this particular Potter wasn't like his father, heaven knew that Severus tried not to be like Tobias. There was definitely some mischief in those eyes but so long as the boy kept from going too far in dealing with those who offended him and didn't target those who hadn't struck first, Snape was prepared to tolerate a prankster. After all it takes a healthy dose of of cunning to prank successfully, which Severus had begrudgingly respected James for.

* * *

 **Alright a few things here.**

 **Regarding the summoning it's important to note that the system is tied to Harry meaning that the ritual is being altered by Harry's Element, Origin, and even a few differences between Potterverse and Nasuverse.**

 **Regarding Lancer's ability to remove the soul fragment in Harry's scar, that was a one time thing, only made possible by a number of unrepeatable factors: Lily's sacrifice providing a push, Lancer's link with Harry allowing him to isolate the foreign magical signature, and the fact that Lancer hadn't fully anchored making his own presence malleable enough to wrap around and absorb the blasted thing.**

 **Numbered Annotations:**

 **(1*) Cannot remember where I picked up this particular retaliation, just know that it was another fanfic.**

 **I'll drop another hint-**

 **Saber hasn't been summoned as a Saber in canon (so far as I know) but _can_ be summoned as one according to the wiki.**

 **Regarding the Harem**

 **Saber, Rider, and Assassin. Then Sakura and two Potterverse Characters**


End file.
